By Ben Meiselas
Hi all, the news has been moving quickly today, so let me get right into it.
First, I want to begin with some breaking stories before I dive into what I covered in my video report.
The gold medal–winning U.S. women’s hockey team has just declined an invitation to attend Donald Trump’s upcoming State of the Union address, citing prior commitments. This comes after Trump was heard on video telling the men’s team he’d begrudgingly invite the women’s champions or risk impeachment. These comments by Trump were disgraceful, and I’m glad to see the women’s team standing up to him.
There’s also another major story just coming in from across the pond. Former ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson has been arrested in the UK after police searched two of his homes as part of an investigation into alleged misconduct in public office tied to the Epstein probe. The UK, and the rest of the world, continue to take the Epstein Files far more seriously than officials here in the United States.
Over at CBS News, Dr. Peter Attia has finally decided to step aside as a contributor after his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was revealed.
Now let me tell you what the main character of the Epstein Files was up to today. Donald Trump held what was supposed to be an event honoring Angel Families at the White House, but his remarks quickly veered into familiar territory: grievances about polls, false claims about election results, and renewed attacks on institutions that constrain his power.
At one point, Trump told attendees, “It just amazes me that there’s not more support out there.” He continued by droning on about his long-debunked election claims, saying, “I got probably 85 million votes. They say 78 million, 79 million… it was just too big to rig.”
Trump’s ramblings quickly became his focus during the event.
Trump also dismissed polling showing his support hovering around 40 percent (a new CNN conducted by SSRS released this morning showed Trump’s approval hitting an new low of just 36%). “I’m not at 40 percent. I’m at much higher than that,” he said, calling unfavorable data “fake polls.” Always the victim, Trump said today, “I suffer for the country.” I hope you didn’t eye roll so hard that your eyes got stuck in the back of your head after that one.
At the same time, Trump took to social media to escalate his rhetoric against the Supreme Court while claiming again could impose additional tariffs without congressional approval. He wrote that he does not need to return to Congress for authorization and suggested, falsely, that recent rulings had strengthened his authority rather than limited it.
The reaction in financial markets was swift. As of this reporting, the Dow had dropped more than 800 points and continued trending downward through the morning. The volatility came as Trump posted that “Any Country that wants to ‘play games’ with the ridiculous supreme court decision, especially those that have ‘Ripped Off’ the U.S.A. for years, and even decades, will be met with a much higher Tariff, and worse, than that which they just recently agreed to.”
Trump also released an AI-generated video depicting himself as a hockey player engaging in violent on-ice confrontations with Canadian opponents. Notice a pattern? The worse things are going for him, the more erratic he becomes, the more his lashes out.
By the way, when you dive into that CNN poll I mentioned earlier, it shows in greater detail how horribly things are going for Trump. CNN’s Harry Enten noted that Trump is now at -47 points among independents. That represents the weakest standing he has recorded with that group in either of his terms. Enten described it as the lowest position Trump has held going into a State of the Union address and one of the weakest overall positions for any president in modern polling history. Trump’s approval with Latinos is now just 22%. With Black Americans, his approval is just 21%.
Significant legal developments also unfolded today.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order permanently blocking the release of Volume Two of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report related to classified documents. Cannon ruled that releasing the report would be “unfair” to Trump and his co-defendants. The decision rested on her prior conclusion that the Special Counsel lacked lawful authority.
The motion to block the report was unopposed by the Department of Justice.
Normally, the DOJ would defend the public’s interest in transparency. Instead, the lack of opposition meant that Cannon could write, “All parties agree that authorizing the public release of volume two would contravene the conclusions of this court’s final dismissal order.”
With both the defendants and the government aligned against disclosure, the order effectively shields the report from public scrutiny. The DOJ continues to act as a protection racket for Donald Trump'. The cover-ups continue.
Because neither Trump’s legal team nor the DOJ is positioned to challenge the ruling, outside organizations focused on transparency and First Amendment interests may seek to appeal at the Eleventh Circuit.
I hope this report catches you up on everything you need to know. We’ll have some other big announcements soon about people who will be attending our People’s State of the Union tomorrow night, so stay tuned. The event will air tomorrow night live on our YouTube channel at 8p ET/5p PT. Tonight, I’ll be going live with my brothers on a new episode of the MeidasTouch Podcast. I look forward to seeing you there. Thanks for all your support.
